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The Second Son It's no coincidence that Faramir is both Denethor's "scapegoat" and his second son. This is a theme seen often in Tolkien; the wiser second son being abused and ignored by his father, while the first son is favored beyond reason. But why? According to analyzations of birth order and the child/parent dynamic, it is usually the youngest child who tends to be favored; the eldest child usually gets most of the responsibilities, but less of the attention of the parent. However, as we can clearly see from Denethor's interactions with Faramir, this is clearly not the case. Not to say that he doesn't love Faramir. In his own way, he does; he just seems to be very critical of him and his actions, and entirely different expectations of what he should be. Added to what he views as dissapointments due to behavior Faramir refuses to change, and you can understand his harsh treatment of him. Both of their respective characters and personalities has a lot to due with the strife between them, but the roles they play in their family dynamic, as the father and the second son. As I said before, "scapegoat" second sons are a trend in Tolkien's works. The earliest such incidient I can think of is during the time of the trees, between Finwe and Fingolfin, who was like Faramir in many ways. Also, Maglor, the second son of Feanor, was often shown as the kindest and most reasonable of the son of Feanor; he's drawn as a good character, but handicapped by the oath he swore. But why? Well, back in medieval times, when it came to the matter of inheritance, the first born son got...well, pretty much everything. It didn't matter if a lord or king had two sons or two hundred. As such, painting the second son as the hero, or the better of the two, has a certain fairy-tale quality to it. The first son, the one who is favoured in the eyes of the father, the one who gets the most attention and the most education, is not the hero. Instead, it is the second son; the neglected child, the one who isn't seen as worthy as the other, all due to birth order. And in many ways, Faramir, like Arwen, is a fairy-tale sort of character. The scapegoat second son is just another common situation that can be found in Tolkien, such as star-crossed lovers or rag-tag, unlikely heroes; it's another aspect that adds to the fantasy and fairy-tale quality of his work, and adds to the wonder of Middle-Earth and the world he created.